Chelsea and Nick hopefully got on a bus at 8 am this morning for Madrid. Having my best friend from school here was very awesome. I took them around to see the sights of Sevilla, such as the Cathedral and the Alcazar, some things that I hadn’t even seen myself yet. We also had all sorts of delicious tapas, which is something I haven’t really taken advantage of, since I get fed in my homestay. It is a really beautiful city here. We were also lucky with weather, and it was sunny every day. Me being like “wow, its cold today,” and Nick and Chels being like “shut up, you’re don’t even know what cold IS.” I guess that this winter is being pretty brutal in the Northeast, so I’m pretty glad that I’m missing right out on it.
I’m going through a really nostalgic little bit of missing Boston. That’s the thing about people visiting – obviously its incredible to see them, share your experience, your favorite things (churros), and be able to catch up, but then saying goodbye is so difficult. It was much harder to watch Chels walk away last night than it was for me to leave my WVC apartment. But I’ve already written a sad, “I miss you guys” email to my friends from school, so now I need to chin up and get back to living in the moment. I’m lucky enough to have found kids here that are awesome people, and now close friends, so life goes on.
Granada was a beautiful city that CIEE treated us to last weekend. We stayed at a lovely hotel, and seriously the best thing about the trip was a strong shower, full-sized, and the buffet of food at the hotel. Not that I don’t eat well here, but seeing a full salad bar, paella, pasta, a variety of strange meat products, scrambled eggs at breakfast, sliced fruit… it was like being in heaven. I’ve come to a realization in my past travels which is that Americans are so lucky in gastronomy, because you can walk down any road and chose to eat Indian, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, or All-American Grill – there is so much variety. Also, though I tend to make the same types of food frequently in my house, I feel like we have a huge diversity of flavor to choose from. And I’ve come to realize that most other countries have their typical food. And that’s really what they eat… every day. Delicious as it may be (ex: when I was in Mexico and loved every minute), it’s easy to get tired of food that is all very similar. So this buffet was an absolute heaven of variety. We also experienced the Alhambra, a huge palace-city built by the Moors. Granada was the last city in Spain to be conquered by the Ferdinand and Isabela, the king and queen that united all of Catholic Spain. There was a lot of Moroccan influence, many tea and hookah houses, and many narrow, twisty streets. And free tapas with beers! But, as always, walking home after the trip, I appreciate the beauty of Sevilla anew. The orange trees are blossoming now, and the city is beautifying itself for Semana Santa, the huge religious celebration of March. Spring is a great time to be in Sevilla!
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